Shivers
by Kitty Chester
Summary: AU please read authors note inside. When Yugi meets Teà in a snow storm, his life changes forever. Teà is beautiful and brave and Yugi can't believe his luck. But Teà has secrets of her own, and soon Yugi is caught up in a storm of a different kind.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note please read**

 **I don't own this story or its characters. I read this book "shivers by Bali Rai" I would have made it a crossover but I can't. It's basically what I think The YuGiOh characters would do if they were in The book instead of The original characters.**

 **I will be doing this with a few other fanfics I will try to make them crossover so I don't upset anyone but if I don't find it I'll out a note.**

 **Now enjoy :D**

The storm came from nowhere.

It was dark and cold, the way Monday's in December should be. The first thing I saw was a single snowflake. A minute later, I couldn't see anythjng else.

I turned into the estate and saw that the road was deserted. Normally there's at least one crew hanging around. They stand by the big blue bins under the first high rise, and shout at me as I walk home from school. They call me 'geek' and 'gay' and 'little perv' and all kinds of things. My life is like that - No real mates to stand up do me, lots of time on my own. But I'm not bothered, not anymore. I'm used to it.

There are normally some adults about on the estate as well. But on that day, there was no one. I was the only loser outside.

My legs started to shale with the cold. The shivers went right up into my chest. I found it hard to breathe. My grandpa's flat was on the other side of the estate, where it backs onto the rail line. I started to run, in the hope I could get inside before the weather got even worse. It was a stupid thing to do. The soles of my shoes had no grip and I started to slip. The snow was so heavy that it had covered everything in minutes. The parked car looked link igloo. The little square of grass between the tower blocks was totally white. The sky had this weird orange-red glow, like there was a fire behind the clouds.

I didn't stop running, no matter how much I slid about. The jacket I had on was too thin and it didn't have a hood. My grey school trousers were soaked from the ankle up to my shins. My green bag was heavy with all the books I love to read, and it banged off my back. I was desperate to get inside. I took a left and then a right, into another street. I was also totally deserted. The wind howled and made the snowflakes swirl. The snow had settled in drift, piled high up every wall and door. I'd never seen anything like it. Crazy.

Home was a hundred meters away. I started to jog a little faster but I couldn't see a thing. I knew i had to go straight but I couldn't see which way straight was. I wondered why there was so much snow. Where were all the other people? The estate felt creepy and dead. The only noise came from the storm. I couldn't even hear any cars or trains. It was like the world had ended and I was the only one left.

My right knee cracked against a parked car and I felt myself fall, almost in slow-mo. My head smacked against a bin. There was shock and pain, and then I passed out.

I came round to see a girl staring down at me. But she wasn't just any girl. She was the most beautiful girl od ever seen. She had broght blue eyes and skin so pale i could almost see through it. Her hair was the colour of chocolate.

"Are you hurt?" She asked in a soft, low voice. It was almost a whisper.

"Er..." I said. I couldn't think straight.

"You've cut your head," she told me.

I rubbed the side of my head as I got to my feet. When I looked at my hand I saw blood. The blood had stained the snow on the ground too. It looked sort of cool, the scarlet on white.

"I'm ok," I mumbled. I looked at her. Her eyes seemed to sparkle.

"Do you live near here?" She asked.

"Yeah," I replied. Then I noticed that she wasn't wearing a coat - just dark blue jeans, boots and a grey hooded top. "Arent you cold?" I asked.

She nodded.

"I'm always cold," she said. "Come on. I'll walk you back to your house."

"Flat," I said.

"I'm sorry?"

"I live in a flat," I told her.

"Right," she said. She held out her hand. My heart jumped. I'd never held a girl's hand before. Never.

"My name's Teà," she said. "And I don't bite."

I felt myself blush as I took her hand.

"I'm Yugi," I said. Her hand was small in mine and felt like a tiny block of ice.

"You need to get some gloves," I said. It was hard not to stare at her. She was gorgeous. Like, if you could have _made_ the girl I dreamed of at night, it would have been her.

"I'm used to the cold," she told me. "Come on..."


	2. Chapter 2

The next day I was online when the doorbell rang. When I opened it, Teà was standing there. Her eyes shone like jewels. My stomach flipped when I saw her and I felt my heart thud.

"No school?" She said, with a smile.

"It's closed because of the snow," I told her.

"Can I come in?"

I nodded and stepped back to let her in. Outside, the estate was deep in snow and deserted.

"Go in there," I told her, and pointed at the living room. The flat I shared with my grandpa was tiny. There were two bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom and the living room. It was painted in a deep maroon colour, which made it feel dark and gloomy. The carpets smelled of dog piss and dirt. I was embarrassed but Teà didn't seem to notice.

"What are you doing?" She asked, as she sat down on the saggy old sofa.

"Nothing much," I said.

She grinned at me.

"You must be doing _something,"_ she said. "Even dead people _do_ something."

"Like what?" I asked.

"They do being dead." She winked at me.

I saw that she was joking and gave her a half-smile back.

"I was reading a book," I said. "On my computer."

"Was it good?"

I nodded.

"I love books," she told me. She looked away, out the window.

"Me too," I said. I wondered if I should sit down.

"Shall we go for a walk?"

I shrugged and nodded at the grimy window. The sky outside was iron-grey.

"It's freezing out there." I pointed out.

"So?" She replied. "YOLO."

"Huh?"

She grinned at me and her whole face seemed to light up.

"You only live once?"

I cussed myself for being so stupid - of course I knew what YOLO meant. Teà had on the same jeans, boots and top as the previous day.

"Haven't you got a jacket or something?" I asked her.

"No," she said, and looked away. "I haven't got much."

I decided not to push it any further, it was clear she didn't mind the cold, or she wouldn't want to go out in the snow.

"Ok then," I to her. "But I'm gonna get a hat. Do you want my scarf?"

Teà nodded.

"If you insist," she said. "Don't want you to worry that I'll die of frostbite or anything."

The estate was deserted again and we made for a small park, close to the main road. I planned to take her the long way round because I wanted to avoid the bullies who hung around the bins. Teà stopped.

"Why don't we go through that way?" She asked, and pointed down past the first high rise on the estate.

I thought fast about how to reply.

"Er... why hurry?" I said. "We've got all day."

Teà seemed happy with that. As we walked she told me about one of her favourite books. I couldn't take my eyes from her face as I listened. A couple of times I almost bumped into things, but I didn't care. She was amazing.

"Tell me about one of your favourites now," she said.

"Huh?"

"Your favourite books," she said. "Tell me about one of them."

"Er..."

Teà giggled and pinched my arm. It was so light that I hardly felt it. It was like being touched by a butterfly or something. I wondered what it would be like to kiss her.

"I hope you weren't lying to me," she joked. "You told me that you live books."

"I do," I protested. "I just can't think if one right now."

"Is that coz you're too busy looking at me?" She asked, witha sly smile.

I felt myself turn red as I tried to grin back. Teà's face changed. She looked worried.

"I didn't mean to mark fun of you," she told me. "I like it."

"Like what?" I asked.

"I like that you like looking at me," she said.

The sky was heavy and grey above us, and the ice-cold wind cut into the skin on my face. But even though I was freezing, being with Teà made me happier than I'd been in years.

"Come on, weirdo," she said. "Let's get to the park before we turn into ice cubes."


	3. Chapter 3

A little brook runs through the middle of the park and under the main road. There's a path beside the brook that goes into a narrow tunnel under the road and then comes out between rows of houses on the other side. The tunnel is closed off, with danger signs everywhere, but Teà ignored them and headed that way.

I knew why the tunnel was closed. It was a place I wanted to aviod.

"Stop, Teà," I said. "They wouldn't close the tunnel if there wasn't something wrong with it."

"Its fine," she told me. "I used to walk under there all the time."

I looked down at the small bank to the snowy path, and shook my head.

"I don't want to go down there," I said.

"Why not?"

I thought back to what had happened when I was younger and shook my head. "Dont want to say."

Teà seemed irritated and I started to worry that she'd leave me there and go away. But in the end she just smiled and took my hand.

"Ok," she said. "Shall we go on the swings?"

I nodded and we walked on. I wondered whether I should explain more about the tunnel.

"Er... it's not that I'm scared," I told her, "to go down the tunnel, I mean."

Teà shook her head.

"You dont have to tell me," she said. She looked right into my eyes. I turned away and shook my head.

"I _do_ have to tell you," I said. "Everyone else thinks I'm a freak amd I don't want you to think that too."

We had reached the swings and I brushed the snow from the seats. I took a yelbow swing and Teà sat on a red one.

"I don't think you're a freak," she told me. "I don't know you very well, but I like what I've seen so far."

"You do?"

Teà nodded.

"Something horrible happened down there," I said. "In the tunnel under the road."

"What happened?" She asked.

"Someone died and there was lots of fuss and it was..."

I stopped myself and gulped down air. I was being stupid. Why was I telling her anything at all? I knew that Teà was beautiful and the only friend I'd had in years, but I don't really know her at all.

"Its ok," she said like she had read my mind. "You can trust me, Yugi."

"But I don't even know who you are," I said. "You say you used to go down the tunnel all the time, but I've never seen you around here before."

"I used to live over the road," she told me. "But then I...I moved on."

"Oh."

"And sometimes I come back - that's all. I miss it. I miss my old friends too, but they've forgotten about me."

I looked at her bright blue eyes and chocolate hair and wondered how anyone could ever forget her.

"I bet they haven't forgotten," I said.

Teà shook her head sadly.

"Trust me," she said. "They've moved on too."

We sat in silence for a while and then I got up and pushed Teà's swing for her.

"Fantasy or reality?" She asked me.

"I don't understa-"

"Books," she cut in. "Which do you prefere? Fantasy or reality?"

I thought about it and shook my head.

"I like both," I said. "Like, there's times when I like fantasy. When I want to escape and that. Then there's times when I want to read about people like me, doing real stuff."

Teà giggled again.

"But you have to pick one," she said. "Or else the game doesn't work."

"Ok," I said. "Fantasy."

"Why?"

I thought a bit more before I replied.

"Because you can go anywhere in a fantasy," I told her.

"Unless your real life became a fantasy," she pointed out.

I shook my head.

"But it can't, can it?" I asked. "I mean real life is just... _real._ "

"Not all the time." Teà said. "Did you know that there's ships that have been found in the sea with all of their crew missing? No one knows where the people went."

I nodded.

"Ships like the Mary Celeste." I said.

Teà shook her head.

"Thats an old story," she said. "I mean things that have happened in the last few years. Things no one can explain. That's real life and fantasy in one..."

"I havent heard any stories like that."

"We'll look them up," she told me. "On your computer."

I felt my insides grow warmer.

"You're coming round again?" I asked.

Teà stopped the swing and turned to look at me.

"Try and stop me, Yugi. I like you."

That night I couldn't sleep. Teà's voice, her eyes, her lips swam around inside my head. Everything. I imagined kissing her and touching her and my brain almost went into overload. I turned on my laptop and googled pictures of chocolate haired girls with blue eyes and everyone I saw reminded me of Teà in some way.

But Teà reminded me of herself too - does that make sense? It was like I knew her before I met her. Like she'd been around for years. I felt so easy around her, and I didn't get that with anyone else except my grandpa.

By the time I stopped looking at my laptop, it was after five in the morning. My eyes felt like they had been rubbed with sandpaper. But even than I couldn't get her out of my mind...


	4. Chapter 4

I spent the next few days at home as school was still closed. The cold weather just got worse and my grandpa moaned about having to walk to work because the buses weren't running.

"It's mad," he said. "you'd think they could clear the roads."

I was eating toast and peanut butter and wondering when Teà would come round.

"What have you been doing with your time off?" Grandpa asked me.

"Nothing much," I said. "I've not got any homework and there's nothing much going on."

He looked at me and smiled.

"Try and go out," he said. "You can't stay cooped up here all day."

"I have been out," I told him.

"Good. At the weekend we'll do something, OK?"

I shrugged. "I'm not ten years old anymore, grandpa. You don't have to do stuff with me just coz I might get bored."

He shook his head and set down his coffee mug.

"That's not why I do it," he said. "We should spend more time together - that's what families do. I know things haven't been easy since..."

I watched his face turn red and thenhe swallowed like there was a lump in his throat. I knew that he was trying not to cry. I didn't say anything.

"See you later," he said at last. Then he rushed out to work.

I sat and thought about what had happened to our family. How we'd supported my dad through a big mess he'd been in after mom died, only for him to leave us as soon as he was sorted. And he left us in a total mess, with no money and stuck on this grotty estate. I was only in Year 5 when it all happened but I wasn't stupid. I knew that my dad was a waste of space.

I was still thinking about my dad when Teà turned up.

"You OK?" She asked, as soon as I let her in.

"Yeah," I said. I didn't mean it.

Teà could see I was in a state. She asked if i wanted to talk.

"It's..." I began to try to tell her about it, but then I started to cry. I got angry with myself for being such a baby and that made me cry even more. I only stopped when Teà kissed me.

"Shhh..." She whispered.

The touch of her lips lingered on mine. The kiss was ice cold and sweet, but so light that it felt like it wasn't real. I stopped crying and wiped my eyes on the sleeve of my top.

"Tell me," she said. "That's what friends are for."

"Is it?" I asked. "I don't have any friends."

"Apart from me," she said.

I nodded, and felt myself break into a little smile.

"Apart from you," I repeated.

When I was a kid my dad had been a science teacher. We'd lived in a different part of the city, in a nice house with a garden and lovely neighbours. I grew up around books and music and that's why I love them both now. My parents seemed to get on fine but then one day everything changed. I was about eight. I heard them arguing in the kitchen. I walked in and my mom was crying. She took me by the hand and said I had to go to my room. When I asked what was wrong, she just shook her head and told me not to worry.

The next day, I was in school, in the middle of a maths lesson, when I got told to go to the headmistresses office. When I got there, there were two police officers, one man and one woman. The head teacher took me by the hand andsat me on a chair next to her. And that's when the police told me that my mother had died in a car crash. Some drunken idiot had swerved in the road straight into her car.

My Grandpa moved in with us the day after as my dad was never home to look after me properly. Always at the pub, drinking to forget.

A week later the police came to our house and took my dad away. He looked angry and upset and kept telling them they had made a mistake. But the police took him anyway and my grandpa sat and cried. My dad was away for a long time. Any time grandpa and I went to the shops or the cinema, people would shout at us and swear. I didn't know why they were doing it but it really got to my grandpa and he got really depressed. Then, about a year after my dad was taken away, we had to leave our house. My grandpa promised me it would be like an adventure, and we packed some of our stuff into boxes. That's how we ended up on the estate, stuck in our crappy flat.

At first it wasn't too bad because no one knew us, so people didn't shout at us in the street. But soon that changed and my grandpa started to get sad again. Some of the older lads started to all me names and no one would be my friend. I got bullied and beaten up and had things thrown at me - and all because of my dad.

I mean, I don't think my dad _did_ anything. The police didn't charge him and he didn't go to jail. It was all a big mistake. But even after he was released, people were still mean to grandpa and me. I still get loads of grief - like the lads who called me names and bullied me. That's how it's been ever since. Only now we can't move again because we'vegot no money. So we're stuck and my dad has just abandoned us, even though he's not in trouble any more and everything is OK. I don't even know what he does any more. See, it might be fine for him but it's not fine for us. I hate him.

When I finished telling Teà all this, she held my hand.

"Do you still see your dad?" She asked.

I shook my head.

"I don't ever want to see him," I told her. "He's a bastard."

"Don't you miss him?"

I shook my head.

"I was only little when he went," I said. "And he's never even sent me a birthday card since."

"Are you like him - like, do you _look_ like him?"

I shrugged. "Dunno," I said. "And I don't care either. Why do you want to know?"

Teà shrugged back at me.

"No reason," she told me. "What about the bullies - do they hang around the estate?"

I nodded. "You know how we took the long way round, to get to the park?" I said.

Teà nodded.

"That's why," I told her. "The worst one is called Rafael." I rolled up theleft leg of my jeans.

Teà gasped when she saw the scar on my shin. It was about two inches long and thick.

"What the...?"

"It was a broken bottle," I told her. "Rafael told me that if I told anyone he'd kill my grandpa. I pretended that I'd scraped my leg falling off a wall."

"Oh my God!" Teà said.

"He takes my money too," I told her.

Her face changed and I could see that she was angry. "How old is he?" She asked.

"Dunno - he's not at school any more, so he's maybe about seventeen?"

"He's two years older than you!" Teà sounded really angry now.

I shrugged and rolled my jeans down again.

"We're gonna get him." Teà said.

I felt my stomach sink and I shook my head. "How can we _get_ him?" I asked. "He'll just beat us up."

Teà looked into my eyes.

"Do you turst me?" She asked.

I nodded.

"So if I tell you we can get Rafael, you believe me, OK?"

"But..."

Teà told me she had to go.

"But I thought we were going to.." I began. She cut me off.

"I'll be back tomorrow - promise," she said in a stern voice that made me nervous.

"OK," I mumbled. I wished that I hadn't told her about the bully. He would kill me for sure.

"But there's one thing, Yugi," Teà added. "If I help you, then you have to promise to help me."

"Help you do what?"

Teà shook her head.

"You have to promise, and not ask any questions."

"But..."

"Just listen, Yugi!" she shouted. Her face was even paler and her eyes blazing with anger.

She startled me. I shrugged and moved away from her.

"Sorry, Yugi," said Teà. "I didn't mean to shout. But if I get rid of your problem with Rafael, for good, will you help me?"

I thought about my life without the bullies in it and how much easier it would be.

"OK," I said.

"No questions asked?"

"Agreed."

Teà leant over and placed another kiss on my lips. It felt as strange as the first one - almost as light as air.

"I'll be back tomorrow," she said.

Now I look back, I should have seen what was happening. Teà had me in a spell and I was blind. Maybe if I hadn't been so into he, things would have been different. I didn't know it at the time, but being with Teà was going to turn my whole world to crap...

 **Dun Dun Duuuuuhhhhhh**

 **Sorry I took so long to upload the next chapter my laptop died. R.I.P. It tookme this long to get a new one but now I can write now so yey.**


	5. Chapter 5

Teà turned up at lunchtime.

"Get your coat," she said.

I looked at the thick snowflakes falling from the white sky. "Where are we going?"

"To see Rafael," she replied.

I wanted to turn around, shut the door and go back to bed but I didn't. I was scared, but I wanted to see what Teà would do. I wanted to see how she would stop Rafael from bullying me. so I got my coat and put it on. When I asked her what she had planned, Teà just shook her head.

"Just wait until we get there."

"Where?"

Teà told me to hurry up. "Rafael is by the bins," she told me. "Him and his mates are throwing snowballs at anyone they see."

"But what if he gets angry?" I asked, as I closed the front door behind me.

"Let him," she said. "I want him to get angry."

We took the stairs down to the ground floor because the lift was broken. Outside the snow was even thicker but this time there were a few people around. I guessed that they had got tired of waiting for the snow to stop. They were trying to get on with things, like my grandpa.

"Bloody weather," I mumbled.

Teà smiled at me. "I like it," she said.

We walked across the estate until we were round the corner from Rafael and his mates. I could hear themshouting and swearing, and my heart began to beat faster. I felt sick.

"Whatever happens," Teà told me, "you just do what I say. OK?"

"But..."

"Yugi - just listen to me and everything will be fine."

"He's gonna batter me," I mumbled.

Teà shook her head. "No he won't," she said. "I won't let him."

She told me to walk round the corner and call Rafael names.

"No matter _what_ he says or does, you don't listen," she said. "Understood?"

"Understood."

I took a deep breath and walked over to the bins. Rafael was sitting on one, and he grinned when he saw me.

"Hello gay boy!" he shouted. He turned to his mates. "Look who's come out to play!"

I turned round to see what Teà was doing but she'd gone. My stomach sank and I felt my legs start to shake. Where was she? I heard Rafael jump down from the blue bin behind me.

"Who you looking for?" he asked me. "Your grandpa?"

I faced him again and fought to find my breath.

"No," I said, in the loudest voice I could manage. "I'm looking for your mum. I've got a fiver and I'm after a good time."

Both Rafael's mates began to snigger under the scarves they'd tied round the bottom part of their faces. All three of them were wearing hooded tops, with caps over the top.

"Nah!" one of them said. "The man's cussing you, Raf!"

"Bust him in the mouth!" said the other one.

I looked past them, to where I hoped to see Teà. Not that she could help when Rafael was this angry. He balled his hands into fists and began to walk towards me.

"You what?" he asked. "You talking about my mum?"

I shrugged and went for it.

"Yeah," I said, even though my voice was shaky and I felt sweat on my forehead.

"You're dead!" he yelled.

I wanted to run away back to my bedroom, but I was frozen. He was less than five feet away from me and I couldn't move. I saw him pull back his right arm and make a fist inside his leather glove. I closed my eyes, ready for the pain. But nothing happened - at least not to me.

"ARRGH!" I heard Rafael yelp.

I opened my eyes and saw him standing on the spot, rubbing his head. Teà stood behind him, holding a piece of metal pipe. Rafael span round to see who had hit him and I shut my eyes. I was waiting for Teà to get punched too but then things went crazy...

Rafael lashed out, but it was like he couldn't even see Teà. She stepped to one side and hit him again. He screamed in agony and fell to his knees. The pipe had cut his left cheek and blood dripped from the wound. I looked at his mates and they had stopped grinning and joking. Now they both stood in shock, like they couldn't believe what they were seeing.

Rafael got up and lashed out again, and again he missed Teà.

"What's goin' on!" he shouted. "What the...?"

Teà smacked him on the nose and I heard it break. Her eyes were wide with rage. She hit him on the left temple and then in the stomach. Rafael fell back and landed in the snow. His hands were at his face and he was in tears.

"What the...?"

"RUN!" I heard his mates cry out.

I watched Rafael's mates disappear into the tower block, leaving him behind. I couldn't work out what was happening. My head was spinning. Why had Rafael just let Teà hit him with the pipe? And why were his mates running away like they'd seen a ghost?

"Take it!" I heard Teà order. She held out the pipe to me.

"But..."

" _Yugi!_ " She almost growled my name.

I walked over to her and took the pipe, and then I turned to face Rafael. His eyes were wide and he started to sob.

"D...don't," he begged.

"Hit him," said Teà.

"But I can't..." I told her. "I can't just hit him when he's lying down and bleeding..."

Rafael's eye's grew even wider still and he looked like he was in shock.

"Who...?" he began to mumble. "What... are you _crazy,_ bruv?"

Teà took hold of my arm.

" _HIT HIM!"_ she hissed. "Go on!"

I lifted the pipe into the air, closed my eyes and did as she said.

" _Again! Again! Again!_ " she screamed.

When I was finished, Rafael was out cold on the ground. The snow had turned scarlet and his face was a bloody mess. The pipe was on the ground. And Teà ...

Teà had vanished...


	6. Chapter 6

The police turned up some time the following afternoon. I was in my bedroom, trying to work out what had happened. I'd been up all night wondering where Téa had gone. I was worried sick that Rafael might be dead. Rafael was a bully but that didn't mean I wanted to kill him. I just wanted him to stop hurting me all the time.

When I opened the door and saw the police, I thought I wold have a heart attack.

"Hello, son, are your mum or dad at home?" the male copper asked.

"At work," I heard myself reply, my mind racing.

The other copper was female and she smiled at me, but not in a kind way.

"When will they be back?" she asked.

I shrugged and looked down at my feet. "Dunno. Grandpa's at work."

"OK," she said. "What time does he get home?"

"About s-six," I stammered.

"OK. We'll be back later, then," she replied. "There's been an attack on the estate and we're looking for witnesses."

I felt my mouth go dry but I knew that I had to look at the policewoman. If I didn't she'd think I was guilty - that's what happened in all the crime novels I read. I lifted my head and tried to stay calm.

"I've been in all day," I said.

"We can't ask you anything without your grandpa here," the male copper told me.

"Who got attacked?" I asked.

"We can't say, son - but it's bad," he replied. "We'll come back this evening. Let your grandpa know we've been, OK,"

"Yeah..." I said. I closed the door on them and ran back to my bedroom.

I paced around for a while, wishing that Téa was with me. Then I started to feel sick again and I got into bed. The policeman had said it was bad - that had to mean Rafael was dead or something. What if someone had seen me?

Would I go to jail?

And _where_ was Téa?

My grandpa came home just after six and I told him that the police had come round. I wanted to tell him everything else too but I couldn't. In the end I didn't have time anyway. The police knocked on the door about fifteen minutes after grandpa got back.

"Is your grandpa in?" the female copper asked as soon as I opened the door. Her face was stern and she was glaring into my eyes. I felt sickand looked down at my feet. I realised that I was in real trouble. They must have been waiting, watching the flat - ready for when my grandpa came home.

I nodded.

"Who's that?" my grandpa called from the kitchen.

The female copper didn't wait for me to reply.

"Detective Sergeant Mirza," she said. "Could my partner and I come in?"

She walked in without waiting for an answer and her partner followed her. Both were wearing normal clothes and the man looked even ore stern than the woman. My grandpa came into the tiny hall, looking worried.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

DS Mirza looked at her partner.

"DS Webb," the man said, getting his ID card out. "We should sit down."

Grandpa showed them into the living room and began to tidy things away. I could tell that he was embarrassed by the state of our flat. The coppers sat down next to each other on the sofa. I stood at the window with my head down.

"No need to do that, Mr Muto," said DS Mirza. "Please sit down."

"What's this about ?" grandpa asked.

DS Webb cleared his throat.

"A teenager was attacked on the estate yesterday," he said. "We think Yugi was involved."

I felt my stomach flip and I wanted to run out of the room. But I froze and stayed where I was, not looking at anyone.

" _My_ Yugi?" said grandpa. "Are you having a laugh?"

"No," said DS Webb. "I'm very serious. We have witnesses who place Yugi at the scene. We may also have CCTV footage of the attack."

"You may?"

DS Webb nodded.

"We've had to get a court order to view it," DS Mirza said. "Should be with us tonight."

I looked up and saw my grandpa's face grow very pale. He turned to me.

"Yugi?" he asked.

I kept my eyes on his and said nothing.

"Yugi!" he repeated.

"I didn't touch anyone," I mumbled.

"We need you to come with us," said DS Mirza. "We have to ask Yugi some questions."

"Ask them here, then," my grandpa said.

"I'm not sure you understand," said DS Mirza. "We are arresting Yugi for attempted murder, Mr Muto."

"But..." he began.

"I didn't touch him!" I shouted. I wished I'd never listened to Téa. I wished that she was in the room with us. Not that it mattered. If they _did_ have CCTV or witnesses, they'd know about Téa too.

" _Him_?" replied DS Mirza. "How did you know it was a male?"

"Grandpa...?" I pleaded.

"Is there anyone you need to call? A lawyer, perhaps?" DS Mirza asked.

"My son," said Grandpa. "I need to call my son."

"OK," DS Mirza said. "Please do that now and then we'll take you to the station."

"If you don't have a lawyer," DS Webb added, "we can get you the phone number for one when we get to the station."

"My son _is_ a lawyer," grandpa told them.

DS Webb turned to me.

"Yugi Muto, I'm arresting you on suspicion of attempted murder..."

I didn't her the rest because I puked my guts up.


	7. Chapter 7

We got back from the police station just after midnight. My grandpa asked me if I was hungry and I told her no.

"I jut want to go to sleep," I said.

"Did you do what they said?" he asked.

"No, grandpa," I lied, just as I'd done with the police.

"Well, in that case we'll be OK," he said.

"You should go to bed," I told him. "You'll be tired for work."

He yawned and nodded. "I'll speak to you tomorrow, OK?" he said.

"Yeah," I said, and went into my bedroom.

The police had waited for my uncle to arrive before they asked me anything. My uncle sat with me through all of the questions. Before they started he got to talk to me in private for five minutes. He asked if I was guilty and I lied to him. I told him that I had no idea why they'd arrested me. In the interview room, the police kept on talking about witnesses and video evidence but I kept my mouth shut. It was something I'd read about in all the detective stories I'd read. If I kept my mouth shut, they couldn't do anything. If they really did have all that evidence, I would get done anyway. Why make things easy for them?

But the thing is, I felt really guilty. I wanted to know what had happened to Rafael but they wouldn't say. They asked over and over again how I'd known the victim was male before they told me. I told them some lad had been talking about the attack, but I couldn't remember who they were. I didn't mention Téa once. I was angry with her for leaving me to deal with everything but I didn't want her to get into trouble. I just wanted to know where she was.

In the end DS Webb turned up and told DS Mirza something in private. Her face fell as she listened and they left the room. When they came back in, my uncle asked if they were charging me with anything. DS Mirza said that the weren't. She told me that I was still under suspicion but that they needed to make further enquiries.

"No evidence," my uncle had said afterwards. "So much for their witnesses then."

I woke up just as my grandpa walked into my room the following morning.

"I haven't checked if school is open," he said, with a yawn.

"It's Saturday, grandpa," I reminded him.

"Already?" he said. "Are you doing anything today?"

I shook my head.

"I don't want to go out," I told him. "Not after what happened."

"Are you sure you don't know anything?" he asked.

"GRANDPA!" I shouted.

"I'll be back around six. then," he said. "Call me if you need anything."

"OK."

As soon as he left, I went back to sleep, and I only woke up when I heard someone banging on the front door. I thought it would be the police again, and so I put on my jeans and a hooded top before I answered it.

It was Téa. "Hey!" she said, with a huge smile.

She looked even more pale and fragile than before and she had on the same clothes.

"Hey," I said, my voice flat.

"You going to ask me in then?"

I shrugged. "I got arrested," I told her. "Because of what happened."

Téa nodded. "I know," she said. "I was watching you."

I screwed up my face as a blast of icy wind made me shiver. "You were _watching_?"

"Let me in and I'll explain," she said, smiling again.

I told her to come in but didn't smile back. I went into the bathroom to clean my teeth and Téa followed me in. It was tight enough in there with one person. With her squeezed in too, there was no room to move. Téa smelled of cut grass and something else - earth, maybe. It sounds like a nasty smell but it wasn't. It was sort of fresh, if that makes sense.

"Can't clean my teeth with you watching," I told her.

She grinned at me in the mirror, but her reflection seemed to wobble in the steam coming from the hot tap. I wiped the mirror as she left.

"They can't get you," she told me through the open door.

I had already put the toothbrush in my mouth so I didn't reply.

"Charming," she said, in a sulky voice. I'll be in your bedroom."

I finished my teeth and shut the door to go to the toilet. When I came out, Téa was waiting for me.

"It's your turn now," she told me.

"My turn for what?" I asked. "I'm about to eat breakfast."

"To help me," she said. "It's your turn to help me."

I shook my head.

"I have to eat first," I said. "Are you hungry?"

"I don't really eat," she told me. "Never did."

I shook some cereal into a bowl, added some milk and grabbed a spoon.

"In the living room," I said, wondering if she'd realised that I was unhappy with her.

"I'm sorry," she said, almost as soon as I'd had the thought.

"No, you're not," I shot back. "You don't even look bothered."

Téa went to the window and looked out at the grey skies.

"I am," she insisted. "Please believe me."

I ate some cereal so I didn't have to reply for a bit. Téa kept her back to me, humming some tune I didn't recognise.

When I'd eaten a bit more I asked her where she'd disappeared to after we'd attacked Rafael.

"I couldn't stay," she told me. "It's complicated."

"But you let me there," I reminded her. "Was it OK for _me_ to stay?"

She shook her head. "You don't understand," she said. "But you will, I promise. Once you've helped me."

She wasn't making any sense. "Helped you with what?" I asked, raising my voice.

Téa turned to face me and I could see that she'd been crying.

"I didn't want to leave you, Yugi," she insisted. "I _had_ to."

"I'm sorry," I said, feeling bad about making her cry. "I didn't mean to..."

"I'm the reason you didn't get charged," she stated.

"Huh?"

"By the police," she said. "I got rid of the CCTV evidence..."

I put my bowl on the small table in front of me. My grandpa's coffee mug was still sitting there, half-full.

"How could you do that?" I asked. "How did you...?"

"There's a security office on the estate," she explained. "I broke in and turned off the cameras."

Something didn't make sense and doing my head in.

"But what about Rafael's mates?" I asked her. "They saw us..."

Téa shook her head.

"They won't say anything," she told me. Her face was serious and her brown eyes burned into mine.

"But..."

"Yugi," she said sternly. "Trust me - they won't say anything. If they were going to, you would have been charged by now."

I shook my head.

"I didn't want to hurt him," I told her. "I didn't want that."

"I know," she said. she came over and joined me on the sofa. She placed her hand on my arm. It felt lighter than air.

"He would have come after you," she said. "I had to stop him. _We_ had to stop him. Don't you see?"

"But we nearly killed him," I said. "The police said that it was attempted murder."

"And what about your leg?" she reminded me. "What was that - a _game_?"

"But..."

" _NO!_ " she shouted, making me flinch. "People who hurt other people can't be allowed to get away with it. Not ever!"

"But we hurt him back," I said. "That makes us as bad as him, doesn't it?"

"No, it doesn't," she said, more calmly. "We were defending you, Yugi. _From_ him. It's not the same thing."

"But when he wakes up, he'll say it was us," I pointed out. "And we'll still get into trouble."

"No." She didn't blink. "He wont be waking up."

I gulped down air and felt my head start to spin.

"But if he dies..."

"People who hurt other people deserve to die,"

I didn't agree with her but I didn't know how to say it. She was so sure about it all. And I didn't want her to hate me, even though she'd upset me. She was the only friend I'd ever really had.

"Someone like Rafael hurt me," she whispered. "Somebody cruel and evil and full of hate."

"Who?" I whispered back. Now I was beginning to understand why she was so angry.

"Someone," she replied. "He got away with it, too."

I looked into her face and saw that she had dirt streaked across the back of her neck and her clothes were stained. I wondered where she went when she wasn't with me. Was she homeless or something?

"Are you sure you're OK?" I asked her. "Do you want, like, a bath or something?"

Téa looked at her grubby hands and then at me.

"I suppose I am a bit dirty," she said. "But I don't care. I don't care about anything except getting _him_."

"Who?" I asked.

"The man," she whispered again. "The one who..."

I felt something inside me begin to tear open. It was like there was this box that held my anger inside it. I thought about someone touching Téa, hurting her, and I started to get really mad.

"Is that what you need my help with?" I asked her.

"Yes," she said. "And I haven't got much time left. We have to get him soon."

"Why?"

She shook her head sadly.

"You'll understand," she explained. "I promise, Yugi. Soon..."

I started to say something but then she kissed me. Her lips were cold and tasted of something I couldn't place. I put my hands around her shoulders. They were just skin and bone and they felt like they might break in my grip. The cut-grass smell of her hair got stronger.

"Close your eyes," she whispered.

"Huh?"

"Close your eyes," she repeated. "Don't open them for anything. Promise?"

"Why not?"

Téa touched my face.

"Please, Yugi. Trust me..."

I was about to shrug but I held off. I was sick of never knowing. The most beautiful girl I had ever seen was kissing me. She was telling me to close my eyes and I was asking questions. I cussed myself and did as she asked.

"Lie back," she told me. "And keep your eyes closed..."

This time I didn't reply. I just did as she asked. She ran her hands down my chest, towards the belt of my jeans. My belly started to churn and I felt hot all over. As she undid my jeans, I thought my heart was going to burst out of my chest. I froze, unsure of what to do next.

"Téa ...I..."

"Sssshhh!" I heard her whisper, over and over again.


	8. Chapter 8

Téa told me her plan afterwards.

"He lives on another estate," she said. "The one opposite the football ground?"

"I know it," I told her, only I couldn't look her in the eye. Not after what we'd just done. I was embarrassed. I'd never felt anything like it. It was like I'd never felt anything like it. It was like I'd had the maddest dream and then woken up. Only it hadn't been a dream because Téa was right there, and I could still feel her touching me.

"He goes to work - driving a taxi," she said. "He'll be out."

"What - we need to go now?"

Téa nodded.

"Why aren't you looking at me?" she asked.

I was going to lie to her but something stopped me. I decided to be honest instead.

Téa listened to me and then sort of smiled. "I like you, Yugi," she said. "You're not like him."

"Like who?" I asked, confused again.

"The one who hurt me," she said.

"But why would I be like him?"

Téa went back over to the window.

"No reason," she mumbled. "I'm just... I need to rest, Yugi. And I can't do that if he's out there, getting away with it. He might hurt someone else too."

"What do you want me to do?" I asked, deciding that I would help after all.

Téa turned to me and smiled. "Thank you," she said. But her eyes didn't smile along with her mouth. They just looked sad.

"I'm not hitting him or anything," I told her. "Not like Rafael. I won't do that again."

Téa nodded. "I promise you won't have to hit him," she told me. "We just need to get something from his flat."

"His flat?"

she nodded again.

"Don't worry," she said. "He won't be there. You just have to break in and take what I want and that's it."

I started to feel uneasy. What did I know about breaking into flats? I wasn't a thief.

"But how do I get in?" I asked her.

Téa came and sat down and explained everything to me. When she was done, she took my hand.

"Do you promise?" she asked, looking into my eyes. "Please, Yugi."

"I really, really like yo," I said. "You know I do."

"So promise," she repeated.

"Are we, like, together, then?" I asked. "Like you're my girlfriend?"

Téa half-smiled. "If you want me to be," she replied.

"And if I do this - is that it? No more dodgy stuff?"

She nodded. "Promise," she said. "After this I won't ask you for anything else, ever."

"OK then," I told her. "I'll do it."

The flat Téa wanted me to break into had a grubby, stained door with peeling blue paint, and a panel of glass in the middle. I stood on the landing and tried not to panic. I was alone. Téa had gone off again, telling me that she had something else to do and would see me back at my grandpa's. I wasn't happy, but I'd agreed to break in on my own. I waited a few moments, just to be sure that no one would appear. There were ten doors on the landing, five on each side. That was nine other residents who might catch me at any time. As fast as I could, I took the small hammer I'd borrowed from my grandpa's tool kit, wrapped the head of it in my scarf and broke the glass. I held my breath.

The scarf muffled the sound of the glass but my heart still beat faster and I still expected someone to catch me at any moment. But when no doors opened, I calmed down a bit. I reached through the hole and tried to find the handle. I was wearing my gloves and had my hood pulled up over a beanie hat. If anyone did see me, they'd call the police for sure.

At last I found the handle and the skanky door fell open. I darted inside and shut the door behind me. The flat was even smaller than ours, with one small hallway, and three doors leading from it. I opened the first one and saw a tiny bathroom, which stank. On the other side there was a kitchen, with just enough space for a cooker, a small fridge, and a worktop. The sink was coated in grime and there were empty fast-food cartons piled up on the floor. It smelled worse than the bathroom. The last door was a combined bed and living room, with two big windows that looked out over the city. The floor was covered in a nasty brown carpet, and the bed was unmade. Three ashtrays sat on a small wooden table, each of them overflowing with butts. There was an old telly, a mini stereo and a pile of clothes as well. It was nasty. Whoever lived in the flat was a lazy dirty slob.

Téa had told me that the thing I was to get was taped to the back of the cooker. I went into the kitchen, kicked the empty food cartons away, and looked at it. It was covered in a layer of grease and something furry and mouldy sat in one corner. I began to pull it away from the wall, glad that I had gloves on.

It took a few goes but at last the cooker came forwards. A load of cockroaches scuttled out from their hiding place under the bottom. I ignored them and leant over it, but I couldn't see anything. There was a pipe and a wire, but nothing else.

I leaned further across to look again, and the grease got onto my jeans. And that's when I saw it, right at the base of the cooker. A plastic bag like you'd get at the supermarket. I reached down and pulled it away, standing right on my toes. It came free after a couple of tugs and I stood up. I wanted to see what was in it but I decided to wait until I got back. I shoved the package under my top, pushed the cooker back and left the flat. My heart was racing now and I could hear the blood pumping around my head. I had to hurry.

Back on the landing, I shut the door as quietly as I could. Suddenly I heard a voice - a man. Then one of the other doors began to open. Panicked, I sprinted towards the stairs and only just made it. The man's voice was followed by a woman's - both of them speaking in loud African accents. I ran down all ten flights of stairs, until I was outside in the snow again. There were very few people around and I set off for the bus stop, praying that I wouldn't get caught. The bus turned up soon and before I knew it, I was back on my own estate.

But when I got home, Téa hadn't come back. I waited for her to show up, but she didn't. By the time grandpa got back from work, I had realised that she wasn't coming.


	9. Chapter 9

All day Sunday and into the week, I heard nothing from Téa. I started to get worried that she had been hurt. Maybe the man whose flat I'd broken into had got to her. Maybe a car had hit her or one of Rafael's crew had beaten her up. All sorts of things went through my head and I felt like I was going mad. School opened again, so I was out of the flat all day. Even if Téa had come to see me, I wouldn't have been in. It was Wednesday evening before I decided that I had to go and look for her.

I went down to the park first, but it was deserted apart from some lads chucking ice at each other. The fence by the path to the brook had fallen down. I walked over, hoping that Téa might be there. There was no sign of her. I thought about following the path under the road but decided not to. It was freezing and to be honest, I was still a bit scared of going down there.

I turned back, and walked the streets around the estate for an hour. Then I went up to the High Street. It was packed with people and traffic and the noise made me nervous. I didn't find her.

Back at the flat, my grandpa had made sausage and mash. I wasn't hungry and it felt like I was swallowing bricks. Luckily my grandpa didn't notice. Then his brother rang and he had to go out.

"I'll be about an hour," he told me. "Finish up and wash the dishes for me, OK?"

"Sure," I said.

After I'd dumped my dinner and cleaned up, I went into my bedroom and turned on my laptop. I sat and surfed the Net, not looking at anything in particular. A couple of people had put messages on Facebook about Rafael but there was nothing about me. On YouTube, I watched a girl with weird bendy legs on one of those talent shows. Then I watched a couple of music videos. But all the time, the only thing I could think about was Téa. I couldn't believe she'd just run off again. She could have told me.

The bag I'd taken from the flat was hidden under my bed, behind the box for may laptop and some old trainers that didn't fit me ant more. I took it out and thought about ripping open the brown tape it was sealed with. But something stopped me, and I went back to surfing the Net. Téa had made me promise not to open the bag and I didn't want to let her down.

But I did. I resisted for another hour and then I _had_ to open the bag. The more I thought about it, the more it did my head in. In the end I gave on. The bag wrapped up tight, so it took a while to get the tape off. I went and got some scissors to help. Inside the first bag was a second one, and inside that a third. At last the stuff inside fell out and I got confused. There was DVD with no label on it, a pink hairbrush, a silver bracelet with two bunny charms on it, and a pair of yellow knickers. I looked at them again and again, trying to work things out. I was stuck. What the Hell was going on?

That night, I had the worst dream I'd ever had . I was standing in the park, looking down at the brook, when Téa called out my name. I turned but I couldn't see her. Her voice got louder and louder, but I couldn't see where she was. My ears started to buzz. The ground around my feet began to cave in and soon I was falling down into the dark. I called out, yelled and shouted, but it was no good. I thought I was going to die and I closed my eyes. Only I didn't die. I opened my eyes and saw that I was in a strange bedroom. The walls were painted soft pink and the bed was covered in a yellow duvet with bright pink flowers. On the ceiling someone had painted the moon and some stars. There was music playing, some boy band I'd never heard before. I could smell fresh bread, like when it's just been taken out of the oven. And then I saw Téa.

She was standing in front of a mirror, and I called out to her. When she didn't reply, I got off bed and stood behind her. Her reflection smiled back at me. But she looked sick. Her hair was limp and greasy and her cheeks were hollow. Streaks of grey dirt covered her forehead and neck. A fly crawled past her right ear and into her hair. I tried to brush the fly away but I missed. Téa began to giggle and asked if I wanted a kiss. I heard myself say yes.

And then I watched her turn towards me...

Her eyes were just black holes. Thousands of tiny worms crawled out of her mouth, nose and ears. She began to pull her hair out in huge clumps. She opened her mouth, spat out more worms...

And then she howled at me...

I woke up screaming and covered in sweat. My grandpa ran into the room and grabbed hold of my shoulders.

"Yugi! Yugi" he shouted. "What's the matter - are you sick?"

I heard myself mumble but didn't understand the words I was using. My grandpa began to shake me.

"Yugi!" he screamed.

The words began to make sense. I was repeating what Téa had said to me about the contents of the bag.

" _Don't watch it! Don't watch it!_ "

My grandpa hugged me and told me I was OK.

"It's just a nightmare," he said. "Just a bad dream. You're safe now, Yugi."

At last I realised what was going on and pulled myself free.

"I'm fine," I said. "Honest."

My grandpa looked at me in concern.

"What happened?" he asked. "You haven't had a dream like that since..."

And then it hit me - a wave of sickness that nearly turned my stomach inside out. I looked at my grandpa and started to cry.

"Yugi?" he asked. "What's the matter?"

"I'm so stupid!" I shouted back. "STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!"

"You're scaring me," he sobbed. "Stop, Yugi!"

I didn't listen to him. I kept on shouting at myself. Grandpa tried to cover my mouth with his hand. Tears were streaming down his face.

"YUGI!"

I stopped suddenly and sat back in my bed.

"I'm sorry," I told him. "It was just a dream."

"But you called yourself stupid. Why did you do that?" he asked.

"I _am_ stupid," I said, trying to think of a lie. "I mean, I was crying like some baby. I'm fifteen."

My grandpa stroked my face with his hand. He looked relieved.

"You're not stupid," he told me. "People have bad dreams all the time. And theirs nothing wrong with crying."

"Doesn't matter," I said. "I'm OK now."

He gave me a funny look as he wiped away my tears.

"Are you sure?" he asked, looking at the clock by my bed. "Do you want me to call a doctor or anything? You scared me."

"I'm really sorry," I said. "It was just a really, really bad dream. I'm fine now. Promise."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah. You need to get to work."

Grandpa fussed over me some more before he left. As soon as the door slammed shut, I sprang out of bed and pulled out the bag. I emptied the stuff onto my bed and picked up the DVD. My nightmare had been telling me something - something I already knew. I just hadn't seen it. that's all. It was hidden away in the back of my mind.

I took the DVD into the living room and put it into the cheap player my uncle had bought for us. The disc took a while to load but when it did, it played automatically. What it showed me made my blood freeze...


	10. Chapter 10

The DVD showed a dark room that I didn't recognise. Someone was behind the camera, out of shot. They were adjusting the lens, zooming in and out on a bed. Then the screen went black for a minute. When the video started again, I saw a pair of bare legs kicking on the bed. I couldn't se anything else of the person they belonged to except for a pair of yellow knickers. It was a girl.

A man's voice spoke on the video.

"There, there," it said. "No need to cry... Ssh!"

I heard the girl whimper and cry.

"Be a good girl and I'll make you enjoy yourself," the man said.

I started to feel sick. I paused the disc and ran into my bedroom to grab my laptop. I brought it back to the living room and booted it up. It took ages to get going and I felt like I was going out of my mind. How could I have been so stupid?

When the laptop was ready, I went straight to Google. The search was almost instant. I read down the results until I saw what I wanted. I clicked on the link and the local BBC news page opened up. The photo it showed made my hands start to shake...

I turned back to the DVD and pressed play on the remote. The man in the video carried on speaking to the girl. The I saw him enter the frame. He was naked and flabby around the middle. I hit fast-forward, and looked away. I knew what he was going to do. The video whizzed past each fame so fast that I couldn't see what was happening. And I didn't want to see. I wanted to run and hide. My mouth went so dry that I thought I was going to puke. I looked down at my shaky hands and shook my head. Was I completely stupid?

I pressed play and watched the man cover the girl with a dirty blanket. Then he turned to the camera and grinned. I knew then why Téa hadn't come back. She wasn't _ever_ going to come back...

See, the girl on the video was dead. She was the same girl whose face was on my laptop. A beautiful, pale-skinned teenager, with chocolate hair and bright blue eyes. The girl staring back at me was... Téa.

But if you think that was the worst thing, you'd be wrong. The worst thing - the thing that made me scream?

The man in the video...

...was my dad.


End file.
